Add and remove update channels in an easy terminal way

Question

I know there is a GUI in Ubuntu Software & Updates to enable the update channels

updates
proposed
backports
security

as shown in this screenshot:

I am looking for an easy way to do this from within a terminal using commands such as

sudo apt-add-update enable updates
sudo apt-add-update enable proposed
sudo apt-add-update enable backports
sudo apt-add-update enable security

sudo apt-add-update disable updates
sudo apt-add-update disable proposed
sudo apt-add-update disable backports
sudo apt-add-update disable security

and an additional thing

sudo apt-add-update enable default

sudo apt-add-update disable default

Some examples for a better understanding

An empty sources.list
- cat /etc/apt/sources.list
```
<empty>
```
- sudo apt-add-update enable security
```
<empty>
```

One enabled repository (main)

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main

sudo apt-add-update enable security

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security main

Two or more enabled repositories in one or two lines

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe

or

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily universe

sudo apt-add-update enable security

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security main universe

or

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security main
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security universe

With deb-src entries

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe

sudo apt-add-update enable security

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security main universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security main universe

With inactive deb-src entries

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
# deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe

sudo apt-add-update enable security

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
# deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security main universe

The default thing

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security universe

sudo apt-add-update enable default

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security universe

Only one entry and the disable action
- cat /etc/apt/sources.list
```
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security universe
```
- sudo apt-add-update disable security
```
<empty>
```

Different or the same servers for different or the samerepositories, respect each server

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily universe
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main

sudo apt-add-update enable security

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily universe
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security universe
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security main

Different Ubuntu releases for different repositories, respect each release

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty main

sudo apt-add-update enable security

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty main
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security main universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security main

PPAs or other package sources (not-Canonical) in the sources.list?

Ignore!
Don't change the protocols, e.g. https, http, tor, ...

score 13 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 10 '18 at 15:42

I analysed the source of Ubuntu Software Center that written in python.

After, I wrote following code runs well. aptsources is a python module used by Ubuntu Software Center to manage /etc/apt/sources.list and /etc/apt/sources.list.d.

#!/usr/bin/python

import aptsources.sourceslist
from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
import errno

import os

def _lsb_release():
    """Call lsb_release --idrc and return a mapping."""
    result = {'Codename': 'sid', 'Distributor ID': 'Debian',
              'Description': 'Debian GNU/Linux unstable (sid)',
              'Release': 'unstable'}
    try:
        out = Popen(['lsb_release', '-idrc'], stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
        # Convert to unicode string, needed for Python 3.1
        out = out.decode("utf-8")
        result.update(l.split(":\t") for l in out.split("\n") if ':\t' in l)
    except OSError as exc:
        if exc.errno != errno.ENOENT:
            logging.warning('lsb_release failed, using defaults:' % exc)
    return result


if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(os.sys.argv) != 3 or \
        os.sys.argv[1] not in ['enable', 'disable'] or \
        os.sys.argv[2] not in ['updates', 'security', 'proposed', 'backports', 'default']:
        print "Usage: apt-add-update <enable|disable> <default|updates|security|proposed|backports>"
        os.sys.exit(0)

    release = _lsb_release()
    codename = release['Codename']

    sourcelist = aptsources.sourceslist.SourcesList()

    template = None

    main_uri = ""
    main_comps = []
    main_types = []
    child_comps = []
    child_types = []

    for tmpl in sourcelist.matcher.templates:
        if tmpl.name == codename and tmpl.distribution == "Ubuntu":
            template = tmpl
            break

    updated = False

    for source in sourcelist.list:
        if source.invalid:
            continue
        for comp in source.comps:
            if comp not in child_comps:
                child_comps.append(comp)

        if source.template and source.template.official and source.dist == codename and source.template.name == codename:
            main_uri = source.uri

            for comp in source.comps:
                if comp not in main_comps:
                    main_comps.append(comp)

            main_types.append(source.type)
        else:
            child_types.append(source.type)

        if source.dist == codename + "-" + os.sys.argv[2]:
            if os.sys.argv[1] == 'enable' and source.type in main_types:
                source.set_enabled(True)
            if os.sys.argv[1] == 'disable':
                source.set_enabled(False)
            updated = True

        if source.dist == codename and os.sys.argv[2] == "default":
            if os.sys.argv[1] == 'enable' and source.type in child_types:
                source.set_enabled(True)
            if os.sys.argv[1] == 'disable':
                source.set_enabled(False)
            updated = True

    if not main_uri:
        main_uri = "http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu"

    if os.sys.argv[2] == "default" and not main_comps:
        main_comps = child_comps

    if not main_comps:
        main_comps = ['main', 'restricted', 'universe', 'multiverse']

    if not updated and os.sys.argv[1] != 'disable':

        if os.sys.argv[2] == "default":
            uri = main_uri
            if tmpl.base_uri:
                uri = tmpl.base_uri

            tmpl = template
            line = tmpl.type + " " + uri + " " + tmpl.name + " " + " ".join(main_comps)

            sourceentry = aptsources.sourceslist.SourceEntry(line)
            sourcelist.list.append(sourceentry)


        for tmpl in template.children:
            if tmpl.name != codename + "-" + os.sys.argv[2] and \
                not (os.sys.argv[2] == "default" and tmpl.name == codename):
                continue

            if os.sys.argv[2] == "default" and tmpl.type not in child_types:
                continue

            if os.sys.argv[2] != "default" and tmpl.type not in main_types:
                continue

            uri = main_uri
            if tmpl.base_uri:
                uri = tmpl.base_uri
            if not uri:
                continue

            line = tmpl.type + " " + uri + " " + tmpl.name + " " + " ".join(main_comps)

            sourceentry = aptsources.sourceslist.SourceEntry(line)
            sourcelist.list.append(sourceentry)

    sourcelist.save()

Save this code with the file name, /usr/local/bin/apt-add-update. And then run as following.

$ sudo apt-add-update <enable|disable> <default|updates|security|proposed|backports>

I updated it for the multi distro support, e.g. trusty and wily.

#!/usr/bin/python

import aptsources.sourceslist
import os

subdistnames = ['updates', 'security', 'proposed', 'backports']

def get_subdistname(distname):
    rc = "default"
    try:
        rc = distname.split("-")[1]
    except:
        pass
    return rc

def get_distname(distname):
    rc = distname
    try:
        rc = distname.split("-")[0]
    except:
        pass
    return rc

def duplicate_check(entries):
    new_entries = []
    for source in entries:
        for newsource in new_entries:
            if source.type == newsource.type and source.uri == newsource.uri and source.dist == newsource.dist:
                for comp in newsource.comps:
                    if comp in source.comps:
                        source.comps.remove(comp)

        if len(source.comps) > 0:
            new_entries.append(source)
    return new_entries

if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(os.sys.argv) != 3 or \
        os.sys.argv[1] not in ['enable', 'disable'] or \
        ( os.sys.argv[2] not in subdistnames and os.sys.argv[2] != 'default' ):
        print "Usage: apt-add-update <enable|disable> <default|updates|security|proposed|backports>"
        os.sys.exit(0)

    sourcelist = aptsources.sourceslist.SourcesList()
    sourcelist.list = []
    sourcelist.load('/etc/apt/sources.list')

    main_entries = []
    child_entries = []
    other_entries = []

    distro_names = []

    for tmpl in sourcelist.matcher.templates:
        if tmpl.name.find('-') > 0 or tmpl.distribution != "Ubuntu":
            continue
        distro_names.append(tmpl.name)

    for source in sourcelist.list:
        if source.invalid or source.disabled:
            continue
        subdistname = get_subdistname(source.dist)

        if source.dist in distro_names:
            main_entries.append(source)
        elif subdistname in subdistnames:
            child_entries.append(source)
        else:
            other_entries.append(source)

    if os.sys.argv[2] in subdistnames:
        modified = True
        while modified:
            modified = False
            for source in child_entries:
                if get_subdistname(source.dist) == os.sys.argv[2]:
                    child_entries.remove(source)
                    modified = True
                    continue

        if os.sys.argv[1] == "enable":
            for source in main_entries:
                uri = source.uri
                if os.sys.argv[2] == "security":
                    uri = "http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu"
                comps = []
                for i in source.comps:
                    if i in ['main', 'restricted', 'universe', 'multiverse']:
                        comps.append(i)
                line = source.type + " " + uri + " " + source.dist + "-" + os.sys.argv[2] + " " + " ".join(comps)
                sourceentry = aptsources.sourceslist.SourceEntry(line)
                child_entries.append(sourceentry)

    else:
        main_entries = []
        if os.sys.argv[1] == "enable":
            for source in child_entries:
                uri = source.uri
                if get_subdistname(source.dist) == "security":
                    uri = "http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu"
                comps = []
                for i in source.comps:
                    if i in ['main', 'restricted', 'universe', 'multiverse']:
                        comps.append(i)
                line = source.type + " " + uri + " " + get_distname(source.dist) + " " + " ".join(comps)
                sourceentry = aptsources.sourceslist.SourceEntry(line)
                main_entries.append(sourceentry)

    main_entries = duplicate_check(main_entries)
    child_entries = duplicate_check(child_entries)
    other_entries = duplicate_check(other_entries)

    sourcelist.list = []
    sourcelist.list.extend(main_entries)
    sourcelist.list.extend(child_entries)
    sourcelist.list.extend(other_entries)

    sourcelist.save()

Reference URL is https://github.com/dupingping/apt-add-update/tree/master

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy · Answer 2 · 2015-11-28T13:22:58.980

Nov 27, 2015 Update:

The second version of the script still left me dissatisfied with the bloatness of the source code and the fact that I had to employ several different tools. Hence I attempted to rewrite the script in AWK only.

The new script uses pure AWK, and adheres much better to the requirements. Essentially it rewrites the /etc/apt/sources.list every time it runs.

After running the script , update is required, therefore run sudo apt-get update after the script exits successfully.

The file must have executable permissions enabled with chmod +x add-update.awk and be saved in any of the directories contained in the $PATH variable. Particularly it is advised to save the script to $HOME/bin folder ( which also must be appended to the $PATH variable).

A backup of the original /etc/apt/sources.list file is not required but strongly recommended. To backup the file do

sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.bak

Usage:

sudo ./add-update.awk -v ACTION=[enable|disable|help] -v SOURCE=[updates|backports|security|proposed]

Source on github

Demo:

sergrep:$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list                                                                              
deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-backports main

deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-backports main
# removed

sergrep:$ sudo ./add-update.awk -v ACTION="enable" -v SOURCE="security"   
[sudo] password for xieerqi: 
/etc/apt/sources.list
<<< Script finished processing

sergrep:$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list                                                                              
deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security  main universe
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-backports main
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security  main
deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily main universe
deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security  main universe
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-backports main
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu wily-security  main

SOURCE CODE

#!/usr/bin/awk -f
#
###########################################################
# Author: Serg Kolo
# Date: Nov 27,2015
# Purpose: A script that enables/disables 4 ubuntu sources
# (namely updates, backports, proposed, and security )
# much in a way like software-properties-gtk does
# Written for:  http://paste.ubuntu.com/13434218/
###########################################################
#
# Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software is hereby granted
# without fee, provided that  the copyright notice above and this permission statement
# appear in all copies.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
# FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
# DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

function printUsage() {
    print "Usage: sudo ./add-update.awk -v ACTION=[enable|disable|help] -v SOURCE=[updates|backports|security|proposed]";
    exit
}

function checkSourceEnabled()
{
    if ( $3 ~ SOURCE) {
        print SOURCE" is enabled; exiting"
        VAL = 1
    }
    else {
        VAL = 0
    }
    return VAL
}

function disableSource()
{
    if ( $0 ~ SOURCE ) $0="# removed";
    j++;
    newLines[j]=$0;
}

function listStuff () {
    for(k=4; k<=NF; k++) if ( $k~/#/  ) {break} else {
            COMPONENTS=COMPONENTS" "$k
        };
    gsub(/\-.*/,"",$3);
    STRING=$1" "$2" "$3APPEND" "COMPONENTS;
    COMPONENTS=""
               return STRING;
}

function replaceFile()
{
    command="mv  /tmp/sources.list "ARGV[1]
            system(command);
}

############
#  MAIN
#############
BEGIN {

# argument checking sequence
# must remain written in if-else
# structure rather than case,
# to consider users who may not be able
# to install gawk due to broken sources.list
# which is what this script should be aimed at

# actions checked first so that 
# help message can be printed 
 if ( ACTION ==  "enable" ||
      ACTION == "disable" ||
      ACTION == "default"  ) {

    print "<<< ACTION ARG OK" 
  }
  else if (ACTION == "help" ){
    printUsage()
    exit
  }


  if ( SOURCE == "update" || 
       SOURCE == "security" || 
       SOURCE == "backports" || 
       SOURCE == "proposed" ) { 
       print "<<< SOURCE ARG OK"

  }

   else if ( ACTION != "default"  || ACTION != "help" ) {  
        print "<<< E: SOURCE ARG INCORRECT"; 
        printUsage(); 
        exit 1   }

    # static filename to operate on
    ARGV[ARGC++]="/etc/apt/sources.list";

    if (ACTION == "enable" ) {
        APPEND="-"SOURCE;
    } else{
        APPEND="";
    }

} # END OF BEGIN

$0~/^deb*/ && $0!~/partner/ && $0!~/extra/ {

    if ( ACTION == "enable" ) {
        j++;
        ARRAY[j]=$0
        ENABLED=checkSourceEnabled();

        if ( ENABLED ) {
            exit 1
        }
        else {
            j++;
            ARRAY[j]=listStuff();
        }

    }
    else if ( ACTION == "disable" ){
        disableSource() ;
    }
    else if ( ACTION == "default" && SOURCE == "default" ) {
        j++;
        defaultsArray[j]=$0;
        j++;
        defaultsArray[j]=listStuff();
    }
}

END {
    print "<<< Script finished processing" ;
    if ( ACTION =="enable" && ENABLED == 0 ){
     for(i=1;i<=j;i++)
        print ARRAY[i] |  "sort -u > /tmp/sources.list ";
     replaceFile();
     }
     else if ( ACTION == "disable" ) {
       for ( i=1;i<=j;i++  ) print newLines[i] | "sort -u > /tmp/sources.list"
       replaceFile();
     }
     else if (ACTION == "default" ){
        for ( i=1;i<=j;i++  ) print defaultsArray[i] | "sort -i -u > /tmp/sources.list"
        replaceFile();
     }
}

# END OF MAIN

--

Previous versions

Version #1 on github (bash script with AWK and SED)

Version #2 on github (also bash script)

user.dz · Answer 3 · 2015-11-29T17:46:49.893

Usage:

## testing

apt-add-update  enable|disable  default|security|updates|proposed|backports  [file]


## real

sudo  apt-add-update  enable|disable  default|security|updates|proposed|backports

Here main points:

I parsed the file because I was looking for some other options myself.

Checks if any is a mirror, either official including (old-releases, ports) or other mirrors provided by community loaded from python-apt package (it contains a file with all mirrors).
```
/usr/share/python-apt/templates/Ubuntu.mirrors
```
Always keep the official URI in the file. So even with all disabled, it will keep a commented line for a persistence setting. It resolves the lines to the minimum with alphabetic sorting type, url, dist, comp.
Prints to the stdout if it get an input file as 3rd argument or no permission to write /etc/apt/sources.list
Does not support [ options ] like [ arch=amd64 ].
Dropped disable default which i oblige user to specify what to disable.
I Don't like last option (9), because myself is mixing repo's on purpose. So they should be treated as 3rd party repositories.

Download: with full test set.

https://github.com/sneetsher/au_700860_apt_channels

Script:

#!/usr/bin/python3

import sys,os
import re

## official repo's 

#http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports/
#http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
#http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
#http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/

repo_official_uri_re = re.compile(r"\A(http|ftp)://(([a-zA-Z]*.)?archive|security|old-releases|ports).ubuntu.com/ubuntu(-ports)?[/]?\Z")

## load other mirrors

mirrors=[]

mir_re = re.compile(r"\A(http|ftp)://")

with open("/usr/share/python-apt/templates/Ubuntu.mirrors","r") as f:
    for l in f:
        if mir_re.match(l):
            mirrors.append(l.strip())
f.close()
#print(mirrors)

## system release

with open("/etc/lsb-release","r") as f:
    for l in f:
        k,v=l.split("=")
        if k=="DISTRIB_CODENAME":
            release = v.strip()
            break

#print(release)
f.close()

## load sources.list

##TODO: missing support deb line options like [ arch=whatever ] 
emp_re  = re.compile(r"\A\s*\Z")
repo_re = re.compile(r"\A#* *deb(-src)? *(http://|ftp://|file://|cdrom:)")
com_re  = re.compile(r"\A#")
repo_details_re = re.compile(r"\A(?P<active>#*) *(?P<type>deb(-src)?) *(?P<uri>(http://|ftp://|file://|cdrom:\[[a-zA-Z0-9 \-_().]*\])?\S*) (?P<dist>[a-zA-Z\-_]*) (?P<comp>[a-zA-Z ]*\Z)")


##example
sources={
  "http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/":{
    "active":True,
    "deb":{
      "wily":["universe","multiverse","restricted","main"],
      "wily-security":["main","restricted","universe","multiverse"]
      },
    "deb-src":{
      "wily":["universe","multiverse","restricted","main"]
      },
    "mirror":True    
    }
  }

sources={}

uri=""

##for testing
if len(sys.argv)>=4 and os.path.isfile(sys.argv[3]):
    ifile = sys.argv[3]
else:
    ifile = "/etc/apt/sources.list"

with open(ifile, "r") as f:
    for l in f:
        l=l.strip()

        r = emp_re.match(l)
        if r:
            continue
        else:
            #print("raw:",l)

            r = repo_re.match(l)
            if r:
                #print("repository:",l)
                r = repo_details_re.match(l)
                #print(r.groupdict())
                uri=r.group("uri")
                if uri[-1]!="/":
                    uri += "/"
                if (uri not in sources):
                    sources[uri] = {"active":False,"deb":{},"deb-src":{},"mirror":False}
                    m = repo_official_uri_re.match(uri)
                    if m or uri in mirrors:
                        sources[uri]["mirror"] = True
                    if r.group("active")=="":
                            sources[uri]["active"]=True
                    sources[uri][r.group("type")][r.group("dist")]=r.group("comp").split()
                else:
                    if r.group("active")=="" and sources[uri]["active"]==False:
                        sources[uri]["active"]=True
                        sources[uri]["deb"]={}
                        sources[uri]["deb-src"]={}
                        sources[uri][r.group("type")][r.group("dist")]=r.group("comp").split()
                    if (r.group("active")=="")==sources[uri]["active"]:
                        if r.group("dist") not in sources[uri][r.group("type")]:
                            sources[uri][r.group("type")][r.group("dist")]=r.group("comp").split()
                        else:
                            for c in r.group("comp").split():
                                if c not in sources[uri][r.group("type")][r.group("dist")]:
                                    sources[uri][r.group("type")][r.group("dist")].append(c)
            else:
                r = com_re.match(l)
                if r:
                    #print("comment",l)
                    continue
                else:
                    print("unknown",l)
    #print(sources)

f.close()

## process argumments

#fallback for default component to be copied from
comp=[release+"-security",release+"-update",release+"-proposed"]
found_other_comp=False 

if sys.argv[2]=="default" and sys.argv[1]=="enable":
    for u in sorted(sources.keys()):
        if sources[u]["mirror"]:
            if sources[u]["active"]:
                for t in ["deb","deb-src"]:
                    if release not in sources[u][t]:
                        for d in range(len(comp)):
                            if comp[d] in sources[u][t]:
                                other_comp_found=True
                                for i in range(d):
                                    sources[u][t][comp[i]]=sources[u][t][comp[d]]
                                sources[u][t][release]=sources[u][t][comp[d]]

                        ###don't activate any thing if commented like an empty file.
                        #if not found_other_comp and t=="deb":
                        #   sources[u][t][release]=["main"]
            #else:
            #   sources[u]["active"]=True
            #   sources[u]["deb"]={release:["main"]}
            #   sources[u]["deb-src"]={}

    ## carry on enable security
    sys.argv[2] = "security"

if sys.argv[2]=="security" or sys.argv[2]=="updates" or sys.argv[2]=="proposed" or sys.argv[2]=="backports":
    for u in sorted(sources.keys()):
        if sources[u]["mirror"] and sources[u]["active"]:
            if sys.argv[1]=="disable":
                if len(sources[u]["deb"])+len(sources[u]["deb-src"])>(release+"-"+sys.argv[2] in sources[u]["deb"])+(release+"-"+sys.argv[2] in sources[u]["deb-src"]):
                    if release+"-"+sys.argv[2] in sources[u]["deb"]:
                        del sources[u]["deb"][release+"-"+sys.argv[2]]
                    if release+"-"+sys.argv[2] in sources[u]["deb-src"]:
                        del sources[u]["deb-src"][release+"-"+sys.argv[2]]
                else:
                    sources[u]["active"] = False
            elif sys.argv[1]=="enable":
                for t in ["deb","deb-src"]:
                    if release in sources[u][t]:
                        if release+"-"+sys.argv[2] not in sources[u][t]:
                            sources[u][t][release+"-"+sys.argv[2]]=sources[u][t][release]
                        else:
                            for c in sources[u][t][release]:
                                if c not in sources[u][t][release+"-"+sys.argv[2]]:
                                    sources[u][t][release+"-"+sys.argv[2]].append(c)

## generate the new list
data_out=""
for u in sorted(sources.keys()):
    #print(u)
    for t in ["deb","deb-src"]:
        for d in sorted(sources[u][t].keys()):
            data_out += (not sources[u]["active"])*"#"+" ".join([t,u,d,""])+" ".join(sorted(sources[u][t][d]))+"\n"

if len(sys.argv)>=4 or not os.access("/etc/apt/sources.list", os.W_OK):
    print(data_out)
else:
    with open("/etc/apt/sources.list","w") as f:
        f.write(data_out)
    f.close()

sys.exit(0)

#fallback for default component to be copied from
comp=[release+"-security",release+"-update",release+"-proposed"]

found_other_comp=False

At above, "-restricted"? — xiaodongjie, Nov 29 '15 at 17:49
I think that if you append some lines for usage, It will look better. — xiaodongjie, Nov 29 '15 at 17:54
@xiaodongjie, my mistake to rename variable . it should be dists not comp. so restricted is not a distribution, it is a component — user.dz, Nov 29 '15 at 17:55
I think that if ifile does not exist, just out an error code and quit. — xiaodongjie, Nov 29 '15 at 18:00
name == "main": - it's important while i write python code. I don't know how about you this code. — xiaodongjie, Nov 29 '15 at 18:04
@xiaodongjie, for usage i will add a header, it raise an error only if /etc/apt/sources.list does not exist (this is an expected case for such std file) — user.dz, Nov 29 '15 at 18:21
@xiaodongjie I dropped "-backports" because it is not so related the level of updates. example user having backports enabled does not mean he want's to enable proposed . However user enabled proposed most probable need release, security & update enabled too. This list only used for enable default — user.dz, Nov 29 '15 at 18:27
I believe, Different Ubuntu releases for different repositories, respect each release isn't implemented =) — A.B., Nov 29 '15 at 19:19
@A.B. yes I can change it, but Idon't like last option (9), because myself mixing repo's on purpose. So they should be treated as 3rd party repositories. — user.dz, Nov 29 '15 at 19:25
@A.B. I thought software-properties-gtk work same with other releases, just like 3rd party. Let me know you point of view concerning this. I believe that what what should be expected from it. — user.dz, Nov 29 '15 at 19:31

score 7 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 10 '18 at 15:44

7

You can do it in a very simple way by using add-apt-repository.

For example, you can add proposed by

sudo add-apt-repository "http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ $(lsb_release -sc)-proposed restricted universe multiverse main"

It will add deb and deb-src lines to /etc/apt/sources.list. But the source line will be commented.

If you run add-apt-repository with -s parameter, it will not comment out deb-src.

You can enable security by

sudo add-apt-repository "http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ $(lsb_release -sc)-security restricted universe multiverse main"

edited Apr 10 '18 at 15:44

David Foerster

36,264
56
94
147

answered Nov 23 '15 at 18:54

Pilot6

90,100
91
213
324

Yes, I could do that in this way. But I would need the repositories and a server and not simply a add security or add proposed. – A.B. Nov 23 '15 at 18:57
2

@A.B. It is not clear what do you want. You need a more simple command or what? This command does exactly what you do in GUI. – Pilot6 Nov 23 '15 at 19:03
1

As described in the Question: "I am looking for an easy way to do this from within a terminal using commands such as ... Maybe something like: sudo apt-add-update security" – A.B. Nov 23 '15 at 19:04
And what is wrong with this command? That it is long? You can update by sudo apt-get update. And it is quite easy to shorten the command. – Pilot6 Nov 23 '15 at 19:07
1

Yes sudo add-apt-repository "http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ wily-proposed restricted universe multiverse main" is too long for supporting other peoples. I had to retrieve previously existing repositories and the used server. – A.B. Nov 23 '15 at 19:13
You can write a script. That is quite easy. – Pilot6 Nov 23 '15 at 19:14
Yes, I'm know, But I'm too lazy, therefore the bounty. =) – A.B. Nov 23 '15 at 19:16
This could be easily placed into a script. Couple of functions to pre-process the URI , and then just send the output of that function to another one that takes URI as $1 and $2 as flag for add-apt-repository . For example, add-apt-repository $2 $1. If user wants to remove, $2 is -r , if not $2 is blank. And -s can be added there as well , perhaps as $3 – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Nov 24 '15 at 08:11

kos · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-28T19:34:22.033

This does exactly what has been asked;

I'll update this from time to time if necessary;

The bleeding edge version can be found at this GitHub repository;

To install from the GitHub repository:

Install git: sudo apt-get install git
Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/kos0/addRemoveDistribution.git

Synopsis:

enableDisableDistribution.pl <enable|disable> <default|security|updates|proposed|backports>

#!/usr/bin/perl

sub printUsage {
    print("Usage: enableDisableDistribution.pl \e[4maction\e[0m \e[4mdistribution\e[0m\n\n");
    print("\e[4maction\e[0m must be \e[1menable\e[0m or \e[1mdisable\e[0m\n");
    print("\e[4mdistribution\e[0m must be \e[1mdefault\e[0m, \e[1msecurity\e[0m, \e[1mupdates\e[0m, \e[1mproposed\e[0m or \e[1mbackports\e[0m");
    exit(0);
}

sub parse {
    open(my $in, "/etc/apt/sources.list") || die("Couldn't open '/etc/apt/sources.list': $!");
    while(<$in>) {
        my $matchDistribution;
        chomp;
        if(/^deb(-src)? +(.*?).ubuntu.com\/ubuntu\/? +(.*?) +(.*?) *(#.*)?$/) {
            my $debSrc = $1 eq "-src";
            my $URI = $2;
            my @split = split("-", $3);
            my @components = sort(split(" ", $4));
            if(($distribution eq "default" && defined($split[1])) || ($distribution ne "default" && $split[1] ne $distribution)) {
                push(@add, "$debSrc,$URI,$split[0],@components");
            }
            else {
                $matchDistribution = 1;
            }
        }
        (! $matchDistribution && push(@notMatchDistribution, $_)) || push(@matchDistribution, $_);
    }
    close($in);
}

sub update {
    while(1) {
        print("Would you like to update the cache? Y-y/N-n: \n");
        my $update = <STDIN>;
        if($update =~ /^y$/i) {
            my $ret = system("apt-get update");
            exit($ret);
        }
        elsif($update =~ /^n$/i) {
            exit(0);
        }
        else {
            print("Please enter Y-y or N-n.\n");
        }
    }
}

sub rewrite {
    if($action eq "enable") {
        if(@matchDistribution == 0) {
            open(my $out, ">", "/etc/apt/sources.list") || die("Couldn't open '/etc/apt/sources.list': $!");
            foreach(@notMatchDistribution) {
                print $out ($_ . "\n");
            }
            foreach(@add) {
                my @x = split(",");
                my @y = split(" ", $x[3]);
                my $line = sprintf("deb%s $x[1].ubuntu.com/ubuntu $x[2]%s @y", $x[0] && sprintf("-src"), $distribution ne "default" && sprintf("-$distribution"));
                if(! grep(/^$line$/, @added)) {
                    print $out ($line . " #Added by enableDisableDistribution\n");
                    push(@added, $line);
                }
            }
            close($out);
            printf("Added %s %s.\n", scalar(@added), @added == 1 ? sprintf("entry") : sprintf("entries"));
            update;
        }
        else {
            print("$distribution is enabled already. Aborting.\n");
            exit(1);
        }
    }
    else {
        if(@matchDistribution > 0) {
            open(my $out, ">", "/etc/apt/sources.list") || die("Couldn't open '/etc/apt/sources.list': $!");
            foreach my $line (@notMatchDistribution) {
                print $out ($line . "\n");
            }
            close($out);
            printf("Removed %s %s.\n", scalar(@matchDistribution), @matchDistribution == 1 ? sprintf("entry") : sprintf("entries"));
            update;
        }
        else {
            print("$distribution is disabled already. Aborting.\n");
            exit(1);
        }
    }
}

if($> != 0) {
    print("You must be root to run enableDisableDistribution.\n");
    exit(1);
}
if(@ARGV == 2 && $ARGV[0] =~ /^(enable|disable)$/ && $ARGV[1] =~ /^(default|security|updates|proposed|backports)$/) {
    $action = $ARGV[0];
    $distribution = $ARGV[1];
}
else {
    printUsage;
}

parse;
rewrite;

exit(0);

Add and remove update channels in an easy terminal way

5 Answers5

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